Meta will now allow parents to see the topics their children have discussed using Meta AI

Meta announced Thursday that parents using its moderation tools can now see topics teens have asked Meta AI in the past week on Facebook, Messenger or Instagram.

Parents will see a new Insights tab within the Moderation Center that displays the topics their teen is discussing with the AI-powered chatbot. Topics can range from “school,” “entertainment,” and “lifestyle,” to “travel,” “writing,” “health and well-being,” and more, Metta says.

Parents can select a topic to see the subcategories that fall within each. For example, ‘Lifestyle’ is divided into fashion, food and holidays, while ‘Health and wellbeing’ covers fitness, physical health and mental health.

The update is available now in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Brazil, and will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks.

Meta first previewed these ideas in October when it said it was developing new tools to help parents guide their teens through artificial intelligence.

Other tools previewed would have allowed parents to block access to certain AI characters or disable them entirely. However, Meta suspended teen access to its AI characters globally across all of its apps in January, saying it plans to develop an updated version specifically for teens.

For those unfamiliar, Meta AI Personas are interactive artificial intelligence characters with distinct personalities, designed for users to interact with as if they were real people filling specific roles — like a chef — or as well-known celebrities, like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton.

Meta halted teens’ access to these figures just days before a lawsuit was to go to trial in New Mexico, where the social media giant was accused of failing to protect minors on its platforms. Meta ultimately lost the case, marking the first time a court held the company legally responsible for endangering the safety of children.

The case is one of many lawsuits that Meta and other big tech companies face over child safety. Given the timing, it’s not surprising that Meta has stopped access to AI characters or that it is now looking to inform parents about what their children are discussing with Meta AI.

Meta also announced Wednesday that it is offering parents suggested conversation ideas aimed at helping them talk openly and nonjudgmentally about their teens’ experiences with artificial intelligence. Additionally, the company says it will launch a new AI Wellbeing Expert Council to help shape the development of its AI products for teens.